The Dreams Of A Hero
by DarkJakeX3
Summary: Three months have passed since Sora and Riku returned to Destiny Islands. They had all been warned by the King that it was not over. But when Sora begins to have nightmares of what is to come, will their new journey begin before any of them had expected?
1. Prologue

A/N: this is my first fanfic, so please, read and review, I'd love to know what you guys think. The first chapter might be a tad long, and nothing will be spelled right or capitalised because the notes on IPods suck ass.

Oh and I don't own kingdom hearts or final fantasy. If I did KH3 would be well on the way, or at least remakes of the first 2 :)

Prologue

Sora gazed at Kairi's body. She lay there, looking lifeless. He fought to hold back the tears that were beginning to well up in his eyes. He turned and grabbed the strange keyblade that Xehanort had left behind. Picking it up, he turned to face Kairi once again. "I love you" he breathed, finally letting a single tear roll down his cheek, before turning the keyblade around in his hand, and plunging it into his chest. As his vision began to fade into darkness, he saw several heartless appear, and pounced onto Kairi's lifeless body. His vision finally left him, unable to see her underneath the large pile of attacking heartless

Sora bolted upright in his bed, sweat dripping down his face and back. The Oathkeeper keyblade had appeared in his hand.

"Why Oathkeeper?" he thought.

"You know why." a voice replied in the back of his mind. Sora glanced down at the cross-shaped scar that lay above where his heart was, a small memory of that day - a long time ago now, it seemed, – a memory that had been distorted and turned into the nightmare. Then his mind raced.

"KAIRI!" it screamed. Was she ok? Was the dream real or not?  
He threw on a pair of shorts and crept out of his room. He decided that he simply HAD to go and make sure she was safe. He sneaked his way down the hall, passed Riku's room, and stopped outside Kairi's room. He breathed deeply as he slowly opened the door to check she was still there, safe. He sighed with relief as he spotted her bright red hair, and stifled a laugh as he saw how crazy it had become in her sleep. He closed the door and wandered back to his room, a smile on his face. It was three months since he and Riku had returned to destiny islands, finding that neither Sora's nor Riku's parent were there. As Kairi had been living on her own since the boys had left, she offered the two spare rooms she had, overly happy to have them back from their long journey. As Sora climbed back into bed, a smile crept onto his face as his thoughts turned to Kairi. Feeling content, he fell to sleep, confident that the nightmare would not return that night.

Sora was reawakened in the morning, sunlight flooding in through his open window. The sweet smell of pancakes floated through the air and filled his nostrils with their delicious scent. He smiled as he remembered that it was Saturday, and Kairi's turn to cook breakfast. Anything was better than eating whatever Riku had made the night before.

"Probably what gave you nightmares" the voice in the back of his head giggled. "Morning Roxas" Sora tried to say as he yawned. Ever since Roxas had returned to Sora's body, he had always seemed to be there, in Sora's mind, sharing his experiences. He had to admit, they had become quite close, (which wasn't surprising as they were, technically, the same person.) although he did get some funny looks from passing strangers when it looked like he was talking and laughing to himself. Sora glanced at the mirror hanging from his wall. He still had the black shorts on from when he left his room to check on Kairi, and As usual, his gravity-defying hair was spiked up here there and everywhere. His eyes began to fall, looking at the silver crown necklace he had worn forever, then at the cross shaped scar on his chest. He winced as he was reminded of his nightmare, but smiled again as the smell of pancakes was wafted into his nose a second time. Nothing was better than Kairi's pancakes.  
"Go on boy, fetch the pancakes" Roxas teased. Groggily, with eyes half closed, he obediently opened his door and walked down the stairs and toward the kitchen. He opened the door, and, glancing round the room, noticed Kairi and Riku looking at him oddly. He tilted his head, questioning them as to why. Kairi's face turned a light shade of red as she slowly replied.

"Um... Sora? You have no shirt on".  
Eyes opening finally, he looked down at himself, and realised she was right. Riku laughed at the pair from a sofa on the other side of the room.  
"Oh c'mon Kairi, you know you're loving it. When did you get muscles like those, anyway?"  
Kairi had blushed, but turned the other way, hoping the boys wouldn't notice.  
"Sorry, I guess I was just too distracted by how delicious breakfast smells after last nights failed attempt at cooking" Sora said slyly "besides Riku, you're forgetting that, while you were blindfolded with DiZ, and mostly likely stuffing your face with as many cookies as you could get hold of, I was out destroying countless heartless, nobodies, evil people trying to take over the worlds, and saving the universe twice. In case you forgot, along the way I sorta became a pretty awesome badass."

Sora added the last part in an attempt to get Kairi to laugh, and smiled when he heard her. He loved her laugh. Riku just bobbed his tongue out at the half dressed boy, damning himself for letting his best friends know about his obsession with cookies, before continuing to eat his pancakes.  
"Go get dressed, you. I'm not having you sit in my kitchen half naked, universal badass or no!" Kairi told him, maternal instincts taking over.  
"Yeah, shed much rather it was her bedroom, not her kitchen" Riku sniggered, earning him a punch on the arm from both Sora and Kairi.

"Hey, I was only joking" Riku pouted, Kairi had quite a good punch when she wanted to.

As she started to giggle, Sora turned and sprinted back upstairs to his room and, upon entering it, closed the door and lay face down on his bed. He was embarrassed at having Kairi see him like this, but grateful that she seemed not to notice the large scar on his chest. He had always kept that hidden from her, in an attempt to not make her feel terrible, as he knew she would. Sora was grateful that Riku had understood when he was asked to keep quiet about the events of that day.

"Hey, I was talking to Namine" Roxas complained.

"Yeah ok, whatever. Give me a minute" Sora replied, scrambling back out of bed to take a shower and find some clothes to wear.


	2. Chapter 1

A/N; Hey guys, nice to see a few of you read my opening chapter! Way more visitors than I hoped for ^.^ thanks to **Xion's Person** and **Roxy McCartney **for the reviews I never expected to get, and a special thanks to **Krystal Lily Potter** for helping me out when I asked, you guys are awesome! Anyway, back to the story…

Once again, I don't own Kingdom Hearts or anything else from any other copyrighted material I may or may not mention. Oh great, now I've puzzled myself.

Chapter One

It was a good 15 minutes before Kairi began to bang her fists against the wooden bathroom door furiously.  
"Sora you better be done soon, I still need to go in!" she shouted over the noise of the shower. Realising that this wouldn't have much of an effect on the boy, she changed tactics.  
"Besides, I'm not sure I can keep Riku away from you're breakfast much longer, and I'm not making more!" She smiled as the shower was instantly turned of, followed by various bangs as Sora clambered out. If there was one thing his friends knew about him, it was his love of food. Kairi was sure he would eat anything that was put on a plate in front of him, as long as it wasn't poisonous or (being an average teenage boy), healthy. Actually, the more she thought about it, the more she began to think that it wouldn't really matter all that much to him if it WAS poisonous. In a few seconds, the door was thrust open, revealing a bone-dry Sora, who stood there grinning, with a towel wrapped tightly around him, beginning at his chest and ending near his knees. Kairi wondered why the boy had wrapped himself so strangely, but never thought to ask.  
She was about to enquire as to how in the hell he had gotten dry in such a short time, when she noticed something not quite right about it all. She stifled a laugh before she began to talk  
"Sora?"  
"I know, it's a mystery, and you'll never work it out." With this, he did his best impression of an evil laugh. It wasn't good.  
"You used firaga didn't you?" she looked rather smug with herself at this point.  
"No, that would be cheating!" Sora exclaimed  
"So that ISN'T fire I can see at the end of that spike there, then?" she gestured towards his head, giggling away.  
Kairi skipped past Sora and through the door as he frantically swatted out the small flame that was resting at the edge of his hair.  
"So close," Roxas muttered. Sora shook his head with disbelief.  
"You knew that was there, didn't you?" he thought, aiming it at the smug Nobody.  
"Maybe" he replied slowly  
Sora sighed as he walked back into his room and put on his clothes, then, making sure he was definitely fully dressed this time, once again ventured downstairs.

Riku had long since finished his pancakes, and had already fled to his room, knowing that the spiky haired boy would be out for revenge after his previous comments.  
As Sora poured syrup all over the remaining pancakes that had been left on the table for him, he thought about the house. It want large, as none of the houses on Destiny Islands were, but it was right on the edge of the beach, and very Cosy. It was filled with warm colours, vibrant reds and deep oranges. There was a pot of flowers in each room, except for the bedrooms (it was Kairi's house after all.) the boys had gone there instantly when they discovered their parents absence, and, being as she had been a responsible mother-figure to the boys as long as she could remember, she let them stay with her, overjoyed to find that on all of their adventures and newfound strength an experience, they still needed and wanted her with them.  
Of course, she had made them agree to a few rules, including that they each took turns to cook, that they kept the house relatively clean, and did their own washing. "And I am not touching a single pair of boxer shorts! I know where they've been" Sora remembered her explaining to them. Of course, to break one of these rules was to invoke the wrath of Kairi, which, as the boys had soon found out, was extremely frightening. Screw the hundreds of thousands of deadly heartless he had killed on his travels, he would rather face all of those in a room the size of Jiminy Cricket's left pocket blindfolded than have to deal with another wrath-slap. He subconsciously raised his hand to the back of his head and whimpered as he located the egg shape that was protruding from it. He had gained that after leaving a pair of his boxer shorts in the bathroom unattended. Riku had laughed hard at him for 10 straight minutes, before Kairi had turned to him and told him that he had left the kitchen in a complete mess the previous night. The resulting chase lasted about and hour, and spanned most of destiny islands. Riku thought he had gotten out of it by the end, until he was woken with a bucket of very, very cold water the next morning.  
He snapped out of his thoughts as Riku bounded down the stairs, closely followed by Kairi. As the silver haired fan-girl magnet sat himself on the sofa next to Sora, Kairi piped up.  
"So, what do you wanna do today guys?" she asked, leaning on the back of the orange sofa, in between her two best friends.  
They all looked at each other thoughtfully for a moment, before suggesting that they go swimming over on the Island that they always inhabited in the daytime. They had gone there do as Lin as any of them could remember, and it was there that Sora had found Kairi all those years ago. After realising that in the three months that had passed, they hadn't yet gone over there, and rushing to grab their swimming costumes, they departed the house and walked over to their boats.  
"You guys go ahead, I'll catch up in a minute, I think I could use the practice" Sora told them, before giving Riku a quick smirk. He quickly realised what his friend was going to do.  
"Practice what?" Kairi asked, although she never got an answer, as Riku had already scooped her into the boat and had begun to paddle away.  
They had gotten about halfway to the island by now, and Kairi had still not seen Sora. She was staring at her feet, feeling terrible for leaving him behind. She knew he loved going swimming, especially on hot, sunny days like this one. Kairi wondered if it had anything to do with his nightmare the previous night. She had been woken up by his thrashing and muttering, as she had never been a particularly heavy sleeper. She smiled slightly as she remembered that he had gotten up to check on her, while she pretended to be asleep. She was brought back out of her memory by the sound if Riku muttering something.  
"Wha-"  
"Hey Kairi!" a familiar voice chirped. The redhead span her head to face the direction the voice had drifted from.  
Sora chuckled as he saw his friend's jaw drop in amazement. He was lay on his back, hands behind his head alongside the boat.  
Kairi glanced over the edge of the boat to see what he was lying on, and did a double-take. Her jaw dropped once again.  
"Sora! Since when could you-"  
"Fly?" he finished for her. "It's just something I picked up from my final form. I've spent that long using it with Donald and Goofy that it just kind of came to me,"  
It was at this moment that Roxas had appeared, sitting on Sora's chest as if he were a stool. He took a quick look at a smirking Riku, then at Kairi's startled face, and finally at Sora's obscenely large grin.  
"Cmon show off, hurry up and get to the island so I can hang out with Namine" he smiled.  
"Don't worry Roxas, we have plenty of time" Namine told him as she too appeared, sitting next to Roxas on top of Sora.  
"Hey guys, you know I'm not a bench, right" Sora pouted as he stares at the two nobody's perched on him.  
"Sorry Sora," Namine blushed. She was about to jump into the boat instead, but Sora interrupted her.  
"Don't worry, it's not like you two weigh anything," He explained as he looked at the island, now only about 50m away.  
They were going to have a lot of fun today, he could tell.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: once again, thanks to everybody that reviewed! And of course, **roxy mccartney **for her loyalty, mwuhahaha. Also, I've managed to update my bio, so if you feel like it, go have a little look and find out about me. This chapter took a little longer to write than the others, partly due to it being twice as long as the others I have written, and partly because the second chapter was already practically written when I posted the prologue. For those few that put alerts on this story, I thank you, and I will try to update twice a week. Oh, and in the end there is a song, and I think that to really understand how the lyrics are punctuated and so that they make sense, you should all listen to it! Its called Remembering Sunday by All Time Low. I don't own that by the way. Damn disclaimers.

Chapter Two

Once they had tied the boat to the small dock that Sora and Riku had constructed many years ago, the three friends began walking towards their usual spot next to the Paopu tree. As they crossed the small wooden bridge, Riku suddenly had a thought. He turned to Sora, and smiled malevolently.  
"Hey Sora, you remember when we were on that beach in the darkness, and I said I always thought I was better at stuff than you?"  
Sora nodded, unsure of where this was going.  
"Wanna prove me wrong?"  
Sora stared at him for a few seconds, startled at the boy's question. He nodded slowly.  
"What do you think he has planned?" he thought to Roxas.  
"I'm not sure... Maybe a race? He always used to love those."  
"Hmmm, it could be, but why would he wait until we were up here?"  
Roxas didn't have time to answer, as Riku blurted out his proposition.  
"I dare you to jump into the sea from here!" Riku yelled back at his friend. While Sora had stood still during his small conversation, Riku had run ahead to the spot mentioned in his dare.  
Sora stared at him blankly. It was easily a 10 foot drop from there, and all of his friends knew about his fear of heights.  
"Go on, bro. You can do this, easy!" Roxas laughed, sensing his counterparts fear.  
"Nu-uh. No way. You know I hate heights"  
Sora began to shake his head, until he heard Riku's taunts.  
"What's the matter, Sora? Too chicken?" Riku grinned, and then waited a few seconds before beginning the dreaded chicken clucks. Sitting on the Paopu tree, Kairi giggled at her friend's silliness.  
"That's it, now I'm doing it" Sora told Roxas. He could take being called a chicken, but having Kairi laugh at him was the last straw. He couldn't stand the thought of her thinking he was a wuss or anything of the sorts.  
"Whoa whoa whoa, let me out first!" Roxas yelled, before appearing next to the curved tree.  
Before any of them had time to take it in, Sora had already stripped down to his bright red, knee-length swimming shorts and his black vest top, and after throwing his discarded clothing towards Roxas, began to sprint across the bridge and onto the island, straight towards Riku.  
"Whoa!" Riku he yelled as he jumped out of the speeding boy's path just in time. As soon as he neared the edge, Sora launched himself upwards with all of his might. As he passed the edge, he added in a small somersault, and smiled as, on his way around, he saw Kairi, Riku, and Namine, mouths wide open in shock, as well as Roxas grinning away.  
"Did that really just happen?" Riku stuttered as his brown-haired friend disappeared from view. He turned to stare at Kairi with eyes wide open.  
"I... I think so" Kairi mumbled, her mouth still open in awe.  
"AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!" they heard. All four of them ran back over to the edge.  
"Sora! Are you okay?" Kairi screamed as she ran, mind racing as she feared broken bones.  
"WATER... SO... COLD!" she heard, and burst into fits of laughter as she got to the edge in time to see Sora crawl back onto the beach, only to curl up into a ball, and rock back and forth while he shivered.  
The group of friends stumbled their way back across the beach, crying tears of laughter at Sora's outburst. As they drew nearer, Sora looked over at them, and began to ponder. Riku had become a lot less serious and stern over the three months they had web reunited. Sora put it down to the fact he had such goofballs as best friends. Kairi was much more confident than she had been when he was taken from destiny islands all that time ago, but then who could blame her, after all of what she had been through. And then there was Roxas and Namine. In the three months they had become inseparable, and Sora was pretty sure that Namine knew all of Sora's secrets, and Roxas knew all of Kairi's, though he would never tell. Sora loved finally being home with his best friends. He had, after all, saved the universe twice, just so he could go back home with them.  
"Hey, do you all have your swimming stuff on under your clothes?" Kairi asked, before watching with horror as the entire group nodded.  
"Oh god, I didn't think! I have mine here." she said, as he produced a rolled up towel from the small backpack she had brought along.  
"Don't worry Kairi, you could go get changed in the Secret Place" Namine advised her Somebody.  
"Yeah, and we'll all try to keep Sora away so that he can'tWRGLBLRG!" Riku began to say, before being tackled into the water by Sora.  
"Go ahead, we'll meet you by the tree" Sora told her as he bobbed his head out of the water. Kairi giggled as she walked towards the small cave.  
As the friends got to the tree, Sora and Riku jumped up and sat side by side on the odd-shaped tree, while Roxas and Namine decided to perch themselves on the edge of the hill, where Sora had jumped a few minutes ago.  
"Why don't you just get it over with?" Riku whispered  
"Get what over with?" Sora asked as he shot a questioning look at Riku.  
"You like Kairi! And not in the friend way, you like like her" Riku stated in a childlike manner, a grin creeping its way onto his face  
"I do not!"  
"Look, there she is."  
Sora whipped his head around and saw Kairi walking towards them in a bright pink bikini. His eyes widened, his heart skipped a beat, and he cursed at himself for not suggesting they go swimming sooner. In his excitement, he hadn't realised that he had begun to slowly slip backwards on the tree trunk. Riku lunged out and grabbed him by his black vest, just in time before he fell.  
"Need I say more?" Riku smirked  
"Okay, so maybe I do. Please don't tell her, she doesn't need to know," Sora said as he pulled himself back onto the trunk, a sullen look on his face.  
"What? Are you crazy? Sora, you know she's just as head-over-heels for you as you are for her!" Riku began to protest.  
"Riku please, don't say anything. You know what the King told us, it's not over yet. We could have to leave at any time, and I don't think I could bear to leave her after telling her I lov- like her. Besides, she wouldn't feel the same way,"  
"Why not? And hey, what's stopping us from taking her along with us this time? You know if we leave her here again we'll be getting slaps every day every for a year. Although she IS pretty hot when she's angry"  
Sora glared at Riku. He knew the his friend was just making jokes in a desperate attempt to cheer him up, and he appreciated it, but there was nothing he could do. 

"Hey guys, watcha talking about?" Kairi intervened, appearing with her usual ear-to-ear grin.  
"We were just saying how much Sora here-" Riku paused briefly as he received a sharp elbow from his spiky-haired friend "- thinks you should stay here next time we go on an adventure" he finished.  
"WHAT?"  
Sora hated Riku for this.  
"It's dangerous out there Kairi; you could get really hurt," he rubbed his chest subconsciously  
"Hey! I can look after myself! I have a keyblade now too, remember?"  
"But you still don't know how to use it fully yet, and that thing attracts danger. Trust me, I know."  
Kairi seemed to stop and think about this for a moment, before the grin reappeared on her face.  
"So teach me" she said simply.  
Sora and Riku's eyebrows shot up. They had never thought that the small redheaded girl would ever want to learn to fight, or even that she trusted them to teach her their skills.  
"Uh... Okay" Sora nodded  
"Promise?"  
"Promise, we'll start tomorrow if you want"  
"No, start now. So I know you wont go back on your promise"  
"hey, when have I ever done that?" Sora pouted at her words  
"Okay so I lied, I'm just eager to start. I was gonna ask you guys a few weeks ago when you were practicing together, but I never thought you'd agree," Kairi smiled shyly.  
They trio looked round as they heard a splash coming from the direction Roxas and Namine had been sitting, only to find that they were no longer sitting there, but had inched their way off the edge and into the water below. A loud giggling sound could be heard coming from the two.  
A thought suddenly struck Riku.  
"Kairi, if you want us to teach you, you're gonna need to go get dressed again, you're not exactly dressed... Appropriately for this type of thing"  
"It's ok, I'll just wear Sora's shorts," she said, walking over to the deserted pile of clothes that Sora had dumped before his stunt. He blushed a deep red as he watched her step into his black, overly-baggy three-quarters before pulling the belt as far as it would go and buckling the shiny crown belt-buckle. He decided he quite liked the idea of her wearing his clothes.

A few hours later, and Kairi was enjoying herself immensely! She was always a quick learner, and with two experienced friends as teachers, she had gotten the hang of it faster than either of the two boys had. Sora had even let her spar with him, but she knew he never really put any effort into it. Roxas and Namine had long since returned from their swim, and after watching Sora and Kairi fight, and Roxas and Riku fight too, Namine suggested that they stop the night on the island. They all agreed and began to build a small fire as the skies darkened. As Sora could get there the fastest, on account of his being able fly, they had all sent him home to retrieve a few things. He came back carrying a few blankets, pillows, and a guitar. The last was one of Roxas' requests. While he had only really been friends with Axel during his time in the Organization, Demyx had still become slightly friendly to the Nobody, and taught him some things about sitars, guitars and the like. From there, Roxas had more or less taught himself, and was actually getting quite good. Mixed with Sora's odd ability to sing practically anything he knew the words to, they were rather entertaining to watch.  
They laid the blankets out side by side next to the roaring fire that Roxas had lit. He had insisted, since his best friend was, after all, a raging pyromaniac. It was dark now, and Namine had already said her goodnight and retreated back into Kairi's mind for some sleep. After this, Roxas and Sora decided it was time to settle things down abit. The Nobody was once again absorbed into Sora's mind, and the boy gave him control over his hands and arms.  
"So, what song do you feel like playing today?" Roxas enquired  
Sora glanced over at Riku, who was tending to the fire, and then at Kairi, who was currently lay on her side, watching with interest.  
"How about Remembering Sunday?" he finally asked  
"Ah, going for the lovey-dovey songs I see. Any particular reason?" Roxas chuckled as he flashed a picture of Kairi through his other half's mind.  
It was true, Sora had been thinking about Kairi since Riku brought up the subject earlier in the day. That, he knew that it was one of her favourite songs.  
They began to play;  
"He woke up from dreaming and put on his shoes, started making his way past two in the morning, he hasn't been sober for days. Leaning out into the breeze, remembering Sunday, he falls to his knees they had breakfast together, but two eggs don't last like the feeling of what he needs..."  
Kairi smiled as she instantly recognised the song, and sang the female parts when they reached them, before falling asleep to the sound of Sora's voice.  
Riku turned to Sora  
"Nice one," he whispered, and winked at his friend before lying down to fall asleep himself.  
"Just me and you now Rox" he muttered to himself, and then frowned as he heard the blonde's snores from inside his head.  
Sora put the guitar down and killed the fire a little bit, so that it was still burning, but they weren't in danger of waking up with their hair on fire. Then, he turned around, and as quietly as he could, draped his usual black and silver jacket across Kairi to keep her warm.  
He lay down facing her, and smiled, knowing the last thing he would see before he fell asleep was her face.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks to all of you who reviewed again! It's nice to hear what you think :D like I said, ill try to update twice a week, but don't be mad if it takes me a while to. Personally, I think this chapter could have been better written, but considering I wrote it at about 1 o' clock in the morning, its not all that bad.

Keep reading, ya'll, it only gets better from here on out. I hope.

Chapter 3

He glanced around the darkness, unable to see even a speck of light. He held his hand in front of his eyes, and was dismayed to find that he could not see it. It was then that he saw it. Bright white, horribly blank eyes staring at him. never blinking, never moving. Then another pair. And another. And another. Soon, there were enough of them to light the place a little. He gasped as he saw shadows dart around, attempting to avoid his vision. A bloodcurdling scream reached his ears. The sheer terror of it caused him to drop to his knees. Then came the sound. A whispery growl, getting louder as the shadows with the blank, White eyes converged in front of him. It spoke in that horrible growl as the shadows moved toward each other.  
"Between the potency, and the Existence. Between the Essence, and the Descent, falls the Shadow. This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends."  
And suddenly, they were gone, leaving him once again in the darkness.  
Sora's eyes snapped open. He flung himself up, covered in sweat, and surveyed the area. Then he saw it.  
"What the f-..."

Kairi awoke to the sound of shuffling, and a few grunts coming from somewhere around. She noticed that she had been covered with Sora's jacket. She felt warm inside as she breathed in his honey-like scent. Her mind focusing, she suddenly realised that both Sora and Riku had disappeared from their spots in front of her, and quickly came to the conclusion that they had been unable to sleep, and were sparring to wear themselves out. She had heard them do this a few times back at the house, and occasionally watched from a window.  
"Kairi!"  
She heard a voice scream. She whipped her head around just in time to see Sora sprint in her direction, Oathkeeper and Oblivion in his hands. As he got closer, he flipped side wards toward her. She gazed at him curiously, and her mind exploded into thought as she watched. In mid-flip, as he was upside-down, he slashed the keyblades outwards, leaving behind an intricate puff of intertwining white and black smoke about a foot from where she was lay.  
"What the hell was that?" She yelled as Sora landed with a grunt.  
"We don't know" Riku shouted from down by the ocean, after leaving behind another puff of black and white smoke. As she looked closer, she noticed black and white spiked chains weaving their way through all of the slightly glimmering smoke, seemingly at random.  
As Riku ran back over to the pair, Kairi stood up, and began to take in their surroundings. She backed into her friends and summoned her keyblade.  
The three were stood next to the fire, back to back. In their sleep, they had been surrounded by... None of them knew what the creatures were. Sora had recognised them as the shadows from his dreams. They were tall, about Sora's height, and seemed to be a cross between Heartless and Nobody. They stood with large feet that ended in a small wiry part that curled round slightly, much like a soldier Heartless. They had thick, muscled legs, which followed up to hulking, powerful torsos, rippling with more muscle. Their powerful arms led down to large, almost skeletal hands. Three fingers and a thumb, all ending in glowing white talons. Their backs held large pointed wings; similar to the Dragoon Nobodies they had seen back on The World That Never Was, each tipped with the same bright white as their talons. A thick tail led from the base of their spines, fading from the same midnight black as their bodies into a pure white. Their heads were curved rectangle shapes, like the Samurai Nobodies that Roxas had control of in the Organization. Their blank White eyes scared Kairi slightly. Along with the many deep red belts that seemed to have been tied around their bodies in random positions, glowing white lines traced intricate patterns on their skin. Riku's mind travelled back to when the best friends had fought Xemnas after destroying his huge dragon type creature. But that was impossible, he thought, they had destroyed him in that battle.  
All in all, they were a fearsome sight, but were an even more fearsome fight. They had the large amounts of strength that many of the larger heartless possessed, but the massive flexibility of the nobodies.  
They began to surround the group, staring with their blank eyes, as if waiting for some small movement that would leave them open to an attack.  
"Ah, we can take these easy" Sora whispered, desperately trying to inspire his companion's courage.  
"Yeah, we can. I just hope we won't have to keep saving Kairi from them" Riku replied with a smirk.  
"Yeah, but I guess we'll have to get used to it if she's going to come with us this time" Sora chuckled as they teased.  
"Hey! I think you'll find it'll be me saving you two!" Kairi laughed.  
They all joined in for a moment, before taking a deep breath and running off into the piles of creatures. The sounds of the battle should have easily reached the main island, but if it had, nobody had come to see what was happening.  
As Kairi slashed through a creature, she turned and took a moment to check on her friends. She smiled as she saw Riku lunge forward, slicing through three creatures in the process. He had always kept his cool in these situations. Her smile was replaced with a look of surprise as her eyes found Sora. She had seen him fight before, but only against either Riku or herself. This was different though. She marvelled at the skill he showed while he twirled and flipped around his enemies. He had extreme finesse, almost as if he knew what was coming next, and was already several steps ahead. He caught her eye and paused, thinking she had been hurt. His mind blanked, and the monster he had been fighting took the newfound opportunity to slash fiercely across his chest, leaving deep cuts in neat diagonal lines across the ribs on his right side.  
Kairi felt rage bubble up inside her as she heard him cry out and double over. It burned inside her, screaming to be let out. She yelled as she thrust her keyblade toward the sky. All of a sudden, a brilliant white flash emanated from the girl's body, leaving them unable to see anything through their closed eyes.  
As the light slowly faded, they re-opened their eyes. Their unknown enemies had disappeared as quickly as they came. Kairi took her chance and ran to Sora. She dropped to her knees as she reached him, and heard him groan in pain.  
He sat up painfully, and waited while Riku joined them, wincing as Kairi slowly brought a finger forward to inspect the wound.

"Kairi… how did you…?" Riku stumbled over his words, something that did not happen often.

"I… I'm not sure" she replied. Riku snapped out of his shock and looked over at his friend.  
"Sora you're going to have to take off your vest for us to fix this" Riku said slowly. Kairi and Sora blushed a little as they realised he was still wearing just his swimming shorts (He had dried them with his magic, much like he had when he got out the shower that same morning) and his black vest.  
He shook his head, not wanting to have to explain how he got his cross-shaped scar at a time like this. He glanced at Kairi, and noticed that she too had a large claw mark on her left arm.  
"Here, let me cover that" he sighed, before whipping off the top and reaching towards Kairi's arm. She watched him curiously, before noticing the cuts he gestured at. In her panic for Sora, she hadn't even felt it. She smiled as he tied the warm vest around her arm, not too tight, not too loose.  
"Why is he doing this for me, when he is clearly in more pain?" She quietly asked her nobody, who had only just woken up, much to Kairi's disappointment.  
"Because he cares about you, you know that. It's probably why you live him so much" the blonde teased.  
"There" Sora said, and flashed a quick smile at her, before lying on his back where it hurt him less.  
It was then that Kairi saw his scar.  
"Sora! How in the he'll did you get that?" She yelled above Sora and Riku arguing between them about who defeated more of the creatures. Riku that replied first.  
"We'll... Explain later" he mumbled and shifted nervously, before ripping a part of his blanket, folding it to create a thick padding for Sora's injury, and tying one of Sora's belts and one of his own around his torso to keep it in place.  
"I'll cure it tomorrow when I have the energy" Sora explained to a sceptical-looking Kairi. The two boys then sat next to each other, facing her.  
As they retold the events leading up to Sora's stabbing, Kairi's eyes filled up. When they had finished their tale, Sora shied away slightly, expecting to be punched and yelled at for doing something so reckless, irresponsible and dangerous just to save her. His mind whirred as Kairi launched herself towards him and embraced him in a tight hug. He breathed in, willing to be filled with her scent. It was the type of smell that filled the nose with its thickness, smelling so very sweet, but at the same time warm, safe, and homely. She kissed him on the cheek quickly, and whispered "Thank you, Sora", before looking him in the eyes. He stared into her violet pupils, which had flooded as she heard how he saved her. His heart raced, and Roxas flashed images through his mind of the two kissing, subtly pointing him in the desired direction.  
"You should probably get some sleep, have a rest while we can." he said finally, managing to pull his eyes away and look at the floor.  
"Okay, goodnight guys" came the reply as she sighed, and unwrapped her arms from around him, before lying down with her back to the pair and falling asleep.  
Sora looked over at Riku, who simply shook his head and followed suit. Sora sighed, and lay down to slowly drift off to sleep once again.


	5. Chapter 4

A/N; Sorry to all those who have wanted me to update this past week! Some dumb-ass roadworker decided to cut through some lines and left my entire area without home phones or internet ¬.¬ But the wait is over! Thanks to those who read and reviewed my story, and to those who favourited and set alerts blahblahblah ON WITH THE STORY

Chapter 4

Sora's eyes fluttered open, the brilliant reds and warm oranges of the sunrise reflecting with a stark contrast against his ocean blue eyes. He began to push his elbows underneath him to lift himself up, only to groan in pain and slide them back to his sides. Rubbing at his eyes, the previous nights events came flooding back to his memory. He groaned again, realising that with all the experience he had and the wisdom beyond his age that came with it, he was still - in his opinion - a complete idiot.  
"Morning Sora!" a voice chirped from somewhere close by. The injured boy didn't bother to open his eyes and look around.  
"Hey... Kairi?" he asked  
"Try again," Namine giggled at her half- asleep friend.  
Sora's eyes opened once again and he turned his head to look at the bright and cheerful girl. Roxas was sat next to her on a log they had found nearby, chuckling at his Other.  
"I can heal that up for you now if you like, before Kairi wakes up, I'll tell her it was you. Don't give me that look Mr.! You haven't got the energy yet, and it'll need to be healed before you get up," Namine lectured.  
"Are you sure?"  
"Yeah, of course, I'd be glad to. Besides, magic is the one thing I'm good at. Well, that and messing around in that head of yours!" Namine laughed at the horrified look she got from the Nobody and his Other.  
She walked over and knelt next to Sora.  
"You two are in good moods this morning," Sora stated  
"Yeah, we woke up before any of you, so we got talking," Roxas chimed in  
"Anything interesting?" Sora asked as he felt the girl hovering above him place a hand on the makeshift bandage above his ribs.  
"I was just saying how stupid you were last night before you went back to sleep," Roxas laughed as Sora went bright red, and Namine whispered a few words before her hand glowed green, and his ribs began to fix themselves up.  
"It'll still leave scars, but at least you'll be able to move," Namine smiled at the relief on his face "And Roxas! You know, you ARE the same person, so you're making fun of yourself too,"  
"Yeah, but I know-" he was cut off by the glare Namine gave him at that moment.  
"Know what?" Sora asked, noticing the sudden mood-change  
"Uh... Know... How much you wanted to," Roxas replied, carefully thinking his words over.  
"Yeah Sora, it was pretty stupid,"  
The trio all turned sharply to see Riku roll over and flash open his eyes, before sitting and turning to them.  
"I know alright! Can we talk about something else already?" Sora pleaded  
"So, what do you think those things were? I've never seen them before, not even in the darkness!" Riku changed topic, catching the desperation in his best friend's voice.  
"They kinda looked like Heartless AND Nobody, but... Merged together?" Roxas said, moving closer to the group.  
"Yeah! But where could they have come from?" Sora sat up, grateful for his friends' mercy  
"Hmmm, I don't know. Maybe we should go see the king, he always seem to know what's going on,"  
"But how could we get there? You don't belong in the Darkness anymore so we can't use a corridor, and we have no Gummi ship!"  
The group stopped for a moment, deep in thought, until a fifth voice came from behind them.  
"Ugh, guys?" Kairi yawned at them as she stretched upwards.

Sora's heart began to pace. How long had she been awake? How much of their conversation had she heard?  
"Namine can still use them, remember? She's how we got off that World That Never Was," She reminded them, crawling her way toward the group. As much as she was a morning person, the actual waking up part was still difficult for her.  
"Hey, you're right! Let's just hope me and Sora can make it through this time," Riku chuckled. He remembered that the last time Namine created a portal for them, Xemnas had closed it in a last ditch attempt to defeat the pair.  
"There's just one problem," Sora stated, looking glum. "The cornerstone of light stops any darkness entering their world, even if it's just a dark corridor,"  
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Riku slumped backwards and lay there for a minute, before a better idea popped up.  
"Hey, what about Master Yen Sid? He was the king's teacher; maybe he has a way to reach him!"  
"Riku, you're a genius!" Sora shouted as he jumped up, testing his newly healed ribs. "He helped me, Goofy and Donald last time we were there, and maybe he knows what those creatures were! He used to be a Keyblade Master too, so maybe he could teach you some stuff Kairi!"  
The girl's eyes widened.  
"You mean, I can come with you?" She asked hopefully, excitement growing inside her.  
"Of course! I'm not leaving you here again; it's too dangerous with those things out there. Who knows what trouble you could get into without us watching your back?" Sora grinned while he put his hands behind his head.  
"Hey! I seem to remember you getting hurt last night, not me!" she retorted. She couldn't help but smile at the look on his face.  
"Cmon guys, we should get back to the house and pack some things before this gets ugly," Riku sniggered at his best friends.  
They poured sand over the remains of the fire and shoved their blankets and pillows into Kairi's now overflowing bag. Deep in conversation about all the worlds they could see again, and all the friends they could visit, the group had reached the docks in no time. Placing the bag and guitar into the small rowboat, a sinister smile played upon Riku's lips. If his best friends weren't willing to acknowledge that they were crazy for each other, he would just have to give them a nudge in the right direction.  
"Uh... There isn't enough space for both of us to get across with all this stuff in it," Riku said, trying to hide the happiness from his voice.  
"But, how are we going to get across? Couldn't you swim?" Kairi said desperately. She'd never admit it, but she was afraid that if they went across without her, they would go without her again.  
"I'm pretty sure Sora could fly you across, it wouldn't be that hard," (or would it?) He thought as the dark side of his mind took over. He chuckled to himself.  
"Wha-? Bu-..." Sora began, before he realised what was going on. "I... I could take you across easy" He stumbled  
"Are... You sure?" Kairi shyly spoke. She heard Roxas and Namine giggle behind her and blushed a little  
" Of course! Go ahead Riku, we'll meet you at the house"  
As they watched the boat float away, Sora turned and held his arms wide open.  
"You ready?"  
In response, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his slightly muscular torso, relishing his warmth. Before she knew it, Sora let out a loud grunt and had pushed him up and away from the floor, and they were now sliding gracefully through the brisk morning air. He had turned so that she was laying on top if him, not wanting to drop her into the clear waters below. She breathed in deeply, inhaling his scent, and nestled into his neck. The pair blushed, although neither noticed. Before they knew it, they were across the stretch of water and practically on their doorstep. Sora was saddened at the thought of her having to let him go, and secretly made a promise to himself that they would do that again sometime.  
They stepped through the doorway smiling and went to pack a few various items. Kairi ran and grabbed a rucksack from her room, and held it open for Sora to stick it full of odd bits of food (mostly unhealthy, but she wasn't about to complain) and any Munny they could find lying around the house, and a few spare clothes of Kairi's. She refused to believe that Sora had washed even once during his time away.  
"Anyone here?" Riku yelled as he burst through the door, carrying everything that had been ferried across.  
"Yeah, we finished packing already!"  
"Kairi, do you have... You know..."  
The look on Kairi's face registered confusion, and then shock as she realised what the tall, silver haired boy was talking about.  
"I'll go get it!" she shouted back at them as she rocketed up the stairs. On the floor above their heads, they heard a mass of bangs and crashes as Kairi frantically searched. Sora looked at Riku with a puzzled look, but his only answer was a small laugh. The banging stopped, and before any of them knew it, Kairi was stood in front of the pair. Sora glanced at her just in time to notice her place a small wooden box into their bag, about the size of her palm. Before he could ask, Namine appeared suddenly on the middle of the group.  
"Ready to go?"  
"uh... Sure"  
The pale, blonde haired girl stretched an arm forward, and held her hands upright. The corner of the room became blocked from view by the large oval of black, almost liquid darkness. Riku took a few steps toward it before stopping, and turning back around.  
"Hey, Sora?"  
"Mhmm?"  
"... You lead..."  
Sora seemed slightly taken aback by his friend. He sighed, before looking around the room, and plunging into the thick darkness.


	6. Chapter 5

A/N: Hi again, time for your next instalment of Kingdom Hearts goodness! I'm being swamped with coursework at the moment, so updates will be once a week for a while. I felt I wasn't really giving Roxas and Namine big enough parts for what they were, so this is more their chapter. But anyway, thanks to the few who reviewed, and favourited blahblahblah. Read on!

Chapter 5

A warm breeze hit Sora as he strode confidently through the oval-shaped portal. He glanced around and grinned, before being pushed forward by his friends. He recognised this place.  
"Hey Sora, can we go see Hayner, Pence and Olette before we head off?" said an excited Roxas, who had appeared next to the trio unbeknownst to everybody. Kairi jumped shock, but Riku and Sora just laughed.  
"Of course, I wanna see them too!" Sora replied with a brief nod. "Cmon guys, follow me!"

"Aww man, I can't believe we got homework for the weekend!" Hayner yelled defeatedly, and slammed his pen down onto the thick wad of paper that was on the circular wooden table they had dragged into their Usual Spot. Olette sighed at the boy and gave him a stern look.  
"Hayner! We have to do this homework. Remember what happened last time you didn't hand a piece in?"  
Hayner winced as he remembered the boredom of sitting in hour-long detentions every day for a week.  
"Maybe we just need a break. Why don't we all go get some ice cream?"  
"Hayner! Pence! Olette!" they heard a familiar voice shout  
"Sora!" the twilight-gang shouted back in unison. One-by-one, they stood and walked over to the two sofas on the other side of the small area. Sora, Kairi and Riku walked across to greet them, followed by a very sheepish looking Roxas. After all reunions were complete, and everybody was sat down and comfortable, He was left standing there. He stepped forward and spoke slowly.  
"Uh, hey, I, uh, I don't know If you should know me, uh, or if I even really know you. D-do you know who I am?"  
Hayner stood up and walked towards him curiously.  
"Hmmm," he hummed ponderously. "Yano, I really feel like I should. Like I knew you once, but a long time ago, so long that I've forgotten. I'm sorry. But hey, no reason we can't know you now!"  
A gigantic grin appeared on his face as he held out his hand to shake Roxas'. After a moment of thought, Roxas took the hand that was outstretched for him. As they touched a white light emitted from their enclosed palms, protruding through the small cracks in their fingers. Hayner's eyes widened in shock as he stepped back.  
"Roxas? Is it really you?"  
"What's going on?" Olette asked, looking slightly worried  
"I think I understand." Namine offered, looking at the brown haired girl. "Roxas lived in a virtual twilight town, with perfect replicas of all of you guys, you were his best friends. When Roxas and Hayner touched, their hearts became connected, and their memories intertwined with each other. Now, to Hayner, Roxas is like a good friend who went away for awhile."  
"Wow. Does that mean if we touched him, we'd remember too? It's like the eighth wonder of Twilight Town!" Pence added  
"I don't see why not,"  
Pence slowly got up and reached out a hand. As Roxas took it, a look of relief and a huge grin spread itself across their faces. Finally, up got Olette. She walked across the room and embraced the blonde boy, loosely at first, and then extremely tightly as the memories came flooding into her mind. Namine tensed up, but relaxed a little when Kairi thought to her that they were just friends.  
"This is weird. I... Don't know what to do," Hayner mumbled.  
"Why don't we go get some ice cream and eat it up on the station tower, for old time's sake; before we have to go?" Roxas asked, the glow of happiness returning to the boy now that his friends were actually his friends once again.  
His answer was everybody instantly standing and beginning to walk towards the Tram Commons for ice cream, laughing and joking along the way.  
A few minutes later, and the large group of friends were perched precariously on the edge of the stations towering walls. Kairi was laid back with her legs on the small barrier that the others were sat on. She couldn't stand heights. Sora joined her in her laid back position, not wanting her to feel left out. Soon, all of them had copied, staring in content silence at the sunset.  
"It's not as good as the ones back home" Sora whispered to Kairi, as he inched his way a little closer.  
"It's the same one, remember? One sky, one destiny."  
Sora chuckled as he remembered Kairi's letter. He glanced over and saw the others chatting away, and something else came across his mind. He dug through his vast pockets (they really were huge, when he had gotten back and ventured into his room at Kairi's house, his best friends were amazed when he pulled out several potions, a few items of jewellery, dozens of keychains, and a small pop-up tent) and found what he was looking for.  
"Roxas!" he called with his mind. As his Nobody turned around, he threw the item. Roxas caught it, and glanced down at the small blue orb in his palm. He smiled thankfully at his counterpart before holding it up to the sunset. His smile widened as he saw his old friends reach into their pockets to withdraw their own crystals, and follow suit.  
They sat there for a moment, glad to be back in each others memory, before Roxas lowered him arm and turned to the other crystal-bearers.  
"Guys, it's been great being back and all, but we have something really important we need to get done. But we'll meet again, I promise."  
Hayner stood sharply as Roxas ended his sentence. The blond Nobody half expected him to tackle him and hold him down, but he simply took his hand and shook it, as Sora, Kairi, Namine and Riku whispered their goodbyes to pence and Olette and walked slowly back down to the station.  
Roxas let go of Hayner's hand, muttered his goodbyes, and began to walk towards the steps leading back down into the building.  
"Hey, Roxas!" Hayner yelled. He turned around just in time to catch the small, metallic object that had been hurled towards him. Opening his palm, he realised it was a keychain, the charm exactly the same as the one on his shirt's zipper.  
"Go get 'em" Hayner said.  
Roxas looked up, gave a small nod, and ran down the stairs to catch up with his fellow keyblade wielders. He caught up to them as they piled into the purple train. Sitting down quietly next to Namine, he heard her ask if everything was ok. He felt the train begin to move as he explained how he didn't like to leave them after just meeting them... Again.  
"They'll be ok; besides, we can come and see them again, right?"  
"Yeah I guess."  
Everybody was silent for the rest if the journey. It was as if they were paying respects to a deceased friend. A few hours had passed before the train grinded to a halt outside the small spit of land that held Master Yen Sid's mysterious tower. As they stepped back out into the fresh air, Kairi gasped in astonishment. She turned to Sora and Riku, who laughed and had to explain to her that there was so much cooler stuff in the universe (which she found increasingly difficult to believe as they made their way up through the castle). They stopped before the large door to Master Yen Sid's room, and turned to each other, making sure they all looked acceptable and knew the rules. The door was slowly pushed open, revealing a large room with sand-coloured walls. Long blue shelves stacked with lines of thick books traced their way around the room. There seemed to be plenty more there than the last time Sora had seen.  
"What is he trying to find out?" He wondered, as he saw the gigantic pile if open books that had been sprawled across the large wooden desk in front of them. From his chair, Master Yen Sid looked up at them and smiled slightly.  
"Master Yen Sid," Sora stated as he dropped to one knee and bowed his head. He had learnt better of not bowing when Donald had repeatedly beat him over the head as they left the last time they were here.  
"My, my. The Keyblade Master and his most trusted friends need not bow to anyone! You have saved the universe twice after all." The old man said as he put an arm across his waist and bowed deeply, holding his hat on with other. Sora looked up, and was unsure what to do. Nobody had ever bowed to him before.  
"Thank you, Master, but what we really need is-"  
"To see the King, and ask him about this new danger appearing, no?"  
Sora nodded, and tried his hardest not to laugh as the rest of the group retained highly confused looks. None of them had met the Master before, so they didn't know about his odd ability to seemingly know what was going on anywhere in the universe. Admittedly, Sora hadn't a clue how he did it either, but that was a question for another day.  
"You needn't worry about it today, doubtless it has been a long and tiring journey for you all, and rest is well deserved."  
"But isn't it impor-" Sora began, but then stopped when he realised it must've been about 21 hours since they last had sleep. The spiky haired boy never really noticed these things anymore, as on his previous journeys he had sometimes had to go days without sleep. Now, it just didn't bother him, he never felt tired, only rejuvenated when he awoke.  
Master Yen Sid flicked his wrist, and the large star shape in the wall was replaced with a door.  
"Through there are your rooms for the night. Make yourselves at home; we shall speak when you are ready." he said as he ushered the group through the door into a small corridor, leaving Kairi behind.  
"Master Yen Sid?" she said quietly  
"Ah my dear Kairi, simply Yen shall do for a polite and important young woman such as yourself. How are you? The last I heard, you had been safely tucked away in those islands of yours, waiting patiently for Sora to return to you,"  
"I'm very well thanks, Y-Yen," she blushed as she spoke. She didn't think anybody knew about the nights she spent staring at the island, hoping Sora would return the next day.  
"I was wondering if you could, maybe, teach me how to use the Keyblade a little. Sora told me you taught the king." she flung out her arm, and her keyblade appeared in her palm for a few seconds, before disappearing once again.  
"I'm afraid I cannot. I have not used a keyblade in many years. But do not despair. Here, take this" he handed her a reasonable sized book. It was bright green with gold leaf forming intricate patterns on the cover. About three-quarters of the way up the book, somebody had written a name in very neat handwriting. It read "Mickey Mouse"  
"That was the book the king used to revise all of his tricks and skills before the tests that I gave him, the same ones I shall have to give Sora, Riku, and yourself some day. But don't tell them that, it would be rather amusing to see the looks on their faces when they find out, would it not?" the two laughed for a moment. "It should be very useful to you, as it was to him. Although he has most likely added more abilities to his repertoire over the years, so you should ask him about it while you are there."  
A large smile appeared on Kairi's face, as it did on Yen Sid's.  
"Thank you!" she practically yelled.  
"Now now, dear child, there is no need to thank me. You will need all the help you can get if you are going to keep up with your friends; they've had rather a lot more practice at all of this. Now, you must be tired. Go, rest up, and we shall speak again in the morning."  
Kairi ran through the door and into the corridor, before quickly finding her room and entering it. It was strange; laid out exactly the way her own room was on Destiny Islands, just as she suspected the other's rooms were too. She put it down to magic, and lay down on the bed, hoping to read at least a small portion of the king's book. Instead, she fell to sleep instantly, clutching the book to her chest.


	7. Chapter 6

A/N: Hi! Its been a while, mostly due to coursework and other important things ive had to do, but im back! This chapters a little rusty (it has been what, a month?) but hey, enjoy it.

THIS CHATER IS FIXED! It was a problem with the formatting before, bt it should be A-OK now!

Chapter 6

One of the creatures had Kairi. It held her there, perfectly still as another pierced her heart with a large, scythe-like claw. He tried to run; to scream out; to fight; but realised he too was held in place. The creature walked over to him next, and raised it's beastly arm. The low growl reappeared.

"More distant and more solemn Than a fading star. Lips that would kiss Form prayers to broken stone. This is the way the worlds end." The creature brought it's claw down.

Sora sat up sharply, moist with sweat. He swung his legs off the side of his bed, pulled on the shorts he had left on his bedroom floor and wandered towards the door. Opening it, he turned towards Kairi's room to go and check on her once agai-BANG.

Sora rubbed his forehead as he blinked a few times, fully waking up now. He suddenly remembered that this wasn't his house, and had just walked directly into the wall at the end of the corridor that sported the large star-shaped window that was usually in Yen Sid's study. He walked over and looked out of the window, resting his elbow in a point of the star, and his chin on his palm.

What did all of it mean?

His head shot round from the window as he heard the doorway opposite his own creak open. Kairi stepped out slowly, unsure if her presence was wanted.

"Hey Kairi" Sora said plainly, and flashed a faked smile at her, visions of his nightmare running through his mind as he looked into her gleaming eyes.

She breathed out a little in relief, then walked over and put herself in the same position as her friend in the other bottom point of the star, gazing out at the vast red sea and it's small emerald islands dotted along the horizon.

"You talk when you have nightmares, did you know that?" she told him, wondering what he'd say.

"Whaaaat? I haven't had one of those since I was 6!" He threw on another fake grin, but he knew she wouldn't be fooled by it. She'd know him far too long for that.

"Sora, why do you think I'm out here? I'm worried about you. The last time you had nightmares, everything changed."

They stared out in silence for a while. They found each other comforting.

"I guess I'm scared too. But not of change, I'm scared for you. These things, they aren't like before."

"I don't care what they're like Sora, I care about you. If I'm here with you, I feel safe. Don't take that away from me again"

Sora paused, realising he had touched a nerve.

"Kairi, I... I'm sorry. I never wanted to leave you."

They turned and held each other tightly.

"I'm sorry, Sora. I know you didn't." Kairi whispered into his chest.

"It's okay. I'll protect you; I promise" he whispered gently in her ear, and held her tightly, not caring that he didn't have his shirt on once again.

"We have to stop seeing each other like this, Riku might get jealous" Sora said, chuckling away. Kairi looked at him, confused at first, before realising what he meant. They laughed for a moment, then once again saying goodnight and trudging back into their rooms to sleep the rest of the night away in peace.

A gong resounded through the tower suddenly. Riku opened his eyes.

"Whoever did that had better be bringing me breakfast" he snarled as he propped himself up against the headboard.

"oh, apparently they are!" he noted as he raised his eyebrows at the broom that had walked into the room carrying a large tray. on top of it, plates stacked high with bacon, sausages and eggs wobbled next to a glass of orange juice.

"I think I like it here" Riku thought to himself as the odd broom placed the tray an his lap and promptly left.

By the time Riku had finished his breakfast, it was still pretty early. He groaned as he stood up to get out of bed. "I'm never eating that much again"

After getting re-dressed, he walked out of his door and over to Sora's.

"Hey Sora, you up yet?" Riku asked through the door. It opened, and out stumbled Sora, looking just as stuffed as Riku. Without saying a word, the two wandered over to Kairi's room and knocked on the door.

Sora had, of course, been woken up by the repeated prodding in the ribs that the broom had given him when the gong failed to wake him. He ate his food a little too quickly, and found himself unable to get out of bed for a while. Sora had only just managed to cram on his clothes when Riku had appeared at his door.

As Kairi opened the door, she smiled at Sora. She had woken up and thought of nothing but their encounter the previous night, content with the boys promise. Kairi knew he would keep it, he always did.

"Let's go find Master Yen, maybe he can tell us something today" Riku said.

Sora nodded, and felt Roxas stir in his head. He appeared next to the group yawning, and soon Namine had joined them too.

They found the old wizard in his study, just outside the corridor that held their rooms.

"Good morning! I trust you all slept comfortably?"

Kairi glanced over at Sora, who smiled and agreed that they had.

"Well then, shall we begin? Please, sit, make yourselves comfortable." Yen Sid said as the brooms from earlier in the morning pushed an assortment of chairs closer to the large wooden desk.

"You may have noticed that these creatures are, in fact, a form of merger between heartless and nobody." Yen Sid stated as the group sat in a wide arc around the master's large desk. "But they do differ in their goals, however. Whereas heartless and nobodies sought hearts in hopeless attempts to regain their own, the Twilights seek them only to increase their powers. They seek the strongest hearts for themselves, regardless of what they have to do to obtain them. Neither I or Mickey know how these abominations are created, nor do we know who is leading them, though they must be of unimaginable power." The old man looked at the group, hoping for any sign of idea or even reasonable guess. A few puzzled looks later, and Yen Sid continued.

"Sora, Riku, I need not stress the importance of never allowing one of these creatures to gain access to a world's heart. With that much power, that being could destroy even the Barrier Between the two realms."

Sora and Riku nodded, stern looks of understanding on their faces, leaving Kairi to stare blankly towards the old master, not quite believing the statement.

"Now, you must be wanting to see the king and your old companions. I will send you through the Lanes Between, ancient passageways that were used by all Keyblade Wielders before the Keyblade War. Be careful, dear friends, even I cannot foresee the outcome of this journey. I wish you luck."

With a brief nod and a quick flick of his wrist, the groups vision of Yen Sid was quickly replaced by stars speeding past as a feeling of weightlessness spread across their bodies.

"Is everybody okay?" Sora yelled as he twirled through the air. He smiled as the others slowly floated their way towards him.

A few minutes passed before Sora could see Disney Castle in the distance. He quickly decided to see the king before they wandered their way around the corridors of the gigantic castle.

"Hey, what's that?" Roxas shouted towards his friends. Riku turned first.

"Hold on, this is gonna hurt a little" He screamed. Before they knew it, the large purple and White blob was upon them. Seeing what was to come next, Sora quickly drifted over to Kairi and held her protectively, his back towards the sphere.

"Sora? What's wro-"

Sora opened his eyes to a deep darkness surrounding him and a heavy feeling filling his body. He panicked, believing he was trapped in the Darkness. That was, until he heard the low groaning of a pain-stricken Riku from above.

"Ugh, my head. What hit me with a sledgehammer?" he groaned as he rolled from his position on top of Sora and pushed himself up to his knees. Kairi was next, shuffling off of his legs before standing up and looking puzzled.

"Guys? Where are we?"

"It looks familiar"

Sora sat upright to glance around the vast open space they had landed in. Large cerulean Walls sloped around them, sloping slightly to form a bowl shape. Thick purple grass clung lazily to the edges and tops of the Walls, almost as if they were daring somebody to just try and clamber up the sheer cliffside.

"That explosion must have knocked us off course" Sora stated to anybody that was listening.

"Okay, but... Where are we?" Kairi asked again patiently, helping Riku to his feet at the same time.

"Kairi, this is your home-world. This is Radiant Garden" Sora replied with a large smile.


	8. Chapter 7

A/N: Hey guys, its been a long time hasn't it! Well now you don't have to worry, chapters will soon be appearing thick and fast, as exams are finished with! Yay me. This Chapter will probably be different from the others, being so long since I actually sat down and wrote the last one, and because I decided to get more description in than I would have. For effect, yano? And excuse the small spelling and grammar mistakes, this is being written at 3 in the morning as I am pretty much borderline insomniac. Enjoy!

Chapter 7

"I wonder if my grandmother still lives here" Kairi thought out loud as she skipped along the large stone pathway towards Merlin's home, old memories filling her mind, wrapping around her every thought.

"Its possible, you haven't been away for too long." Riku told her. It was the seventh time she had asked that same question. Her friends didn't care though, they were happy that she finally had the chance to see her home, just as she had wanted all those years ago when they first built the raft.

"Ive never seen her here before, but then again I've only really met the Restoration Committee" Sora added.

Together they had decided that if anybody knew where Kairi's grandmother was, it would be Merlin. The Restoration Committee had achieved a lot since Sora had last visited. Many of the buildings around the town were completed and rebuilt, no longer patched up with planks of wood and metal. The pathways were completed, and holes were filled in so that unsuspecting people didn't suddenly disappear while walking alongside friends. Sora figured that the sudden burst of speed the town had shown was due to the images of Radiant Garden that Tron had given them as a gift.

CRASH!

Sora and Riku stopped, looking around for the source of the noise, and laughed wildly when they realized the sound sound had come from Kairi, who had absent-mindedly skipped straight into one of the towns residents. As the boys sprinted towards the two fallen girls, Riku began to slow, his eyes darting around, taking in the sight of this new girl. As Sora pulled Kairi onto her feet, Riku held his hand out towards the tall, pink-haired girl. She sat up and gazed at it for a moment, looking at it as if it were a snake or some manner of offensive gesture, before rolling back onto her shoulders and springing upwards onto her feet.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Kairi muttered as she blushed.

"Its fine." the girl sharply relied.

"What's your name? I haven't seen you around here before." Sora asked, smiling at Riku's expression with his hands behind his head.

"Claire. But id prefer if you called me Lightning." she said slowly, eyeing the small group with interest, then surprise as two extra people joined them seemingly from nowhere

"Lightning, huh? I'm Riku, the goofy one is Sora, the clueless one is Kairi, the one that looks like Sora is Roxas, and the blonde is Namine." Riku explained, as each member of the group either waved or nodded joyfully at their introduction to the new girl. To them, they seemed completely normal, but Lightning's expression showed differently.

"What's wrong, did I hurt you?" Kairi asked worriedly

"No its just..."

"C'mon, you can tell us! Helping people is sort of what we do."

"I... I don't really know where I am. I remember the city was being attacked by these... creatures, but me and my friends... we got over-run, and I woke up here. I can't find my friends... Sazh... Snow... Vanille... Fang... Hope... Serah" Lightning sighed, her face dropping into a sad state, as she herself dropped to her knees. '_I've never felt so helpless_' she thought to herself. She'd never have admitted it to the others, but she had grown rather fond of them throughout all of their misadventures and mistakes.

"Well yano Lightning, you're lucky you found us! Going to other worlds and solving their problems is sorta what we do! Hell, Sora here managed to find me and Kairi when we were lost in the entire universe!" Riku pitched in, seizing the opportunity he saw. His companions gazed at him amusedly, noting his attempt.

"R-really?" Lightning said, hope shining in her eyes.

"Yeah! Of course, there's always the small chance of getting hurt or killed, but hey, I did that once, it wasn't so bad" Sora chuckled, as Lightnings expression grew ever happier, and Kairi's dropped for a moment at the memory.

"Nothing I'm not used to" Lightning said calmly as she pulled out her gun-blade, before flicking it back behind her.

"Well then, Lightning, its good to have you with us. We need to go find Merlin, have you seen him around? Kinda small, hat about as tall as he is, epic beard?" Lightning shook her head.

"Oh well, his house isn't too far away from here... I think"

It was a good hour and a half before Sora eventually found his way to Merlin's house, after taking three wrong turnings and ending up back where they began. As the mass of friends stepped through the door and into the warmth of Merlin's crowded room, Sora met a familiar sight. Books were piled high along the walls, underneath the wizards bed, tables, even being used as tables themselves. In the corner of the room stood the large grey-iron furnace, with the magical fire that had never gone out (Although Sora always wondered whether it was truly magical, or whether the occasional book had suddenly fallen in from the teetering stacks surrounding the inferno, further fuelling the flames until the next unlucky book fell). Cid slammed his fists down onto the large keyboard in front of him while screaming "GOD-DAMNIT MERLIN, YOU HIT THE POWER LEAD WITH ONE OF YOUR FIREBALLS AGAIN!" before turning around slowly to the sound of giggles coming from the group of teenagers stood in the doorway.

"Oh, hey guys, when did you get here?" Cid blushed, embarrassed that they had seen his rage.

"Not long ago, we were heading to Disney Castle, but we were knocked off course by a huge Twilight"

"My my, so they've penetrated to the Lanes Between too? This is far worse than I'd thought" Merlin stated as he paced towards the door with his nose buried into a thick, leather-bound book.

"They were here too?" Riku asked in despair.

"Why yes, but Cloud and Leon managed to keep them at bay while the town's defence system started up!"

Just as Riku began to ask whether it was possible for them to be transported to their original destination, Kairi butted in with an extremely fast, highly excited question, as if she had been waited forever for it to be asked.

"Merlin, do you know where my Grandmother is?"

Everybody in the room slowly turned and stared, taking a few moments to work out and register what the small redhead blurted out.

"Why yes, as a matter of fact she lives not far from here! She was a student of mine for a brief time, she showed the remarkable talent of FutureSight, being able to see pictures of future events! It was truly incredible" Merlin said with wonder, his thoughts drifting to the prophecies she had given in her brief time spent with him. When a few hours had passed, and old friendships had once again been renewed, Merlin pointed them in the direction of Kairi's grandmothers house, whom she had wanted to visit before the old wizard helped them complete their journey. Slowly but surely, they began the short walk to the house described to them.

"So... Sora is technically undead, Riku is two people in one, and you are a princess? AND Roxas and Namine are a mix of you and Sora?" Lightning asked Kairi slowly. She had been beginning to catch up on her new-found friends previous adventures, and was dealing with it better than most would upon hearing the tale.

"Well... yeah I guess that's right, I never really thought about it that way" Kairi smiled at her new friend. It would be nice to have a female companion that couldn't hear everything she was thinking.

"Sounds like he must love you a lot"

"What? Who?" Kairi practically shouted, blushing furiously as she tried to hide behind lightning when the two boys in front turned to look at her.

"Don't even try to hide it, you know its true. My... Brother I guess I should call him now. He loved my sister enough to marry her, and stick with her even when she was doomed. But you and Sora? There's something there that not even death could tear apart, nor could you be separated when you lost each other half way across the universe. He gave his life to keep you safe, and you risked your own to bring him back. Can you honestly tell me that you don't feel it?" Lightning smirked at the younger girl as she gazed at the floor as she walked.

"I... I guess so. But I can't! Sora... he's been my best friend since before I can even remember. He pulled me from the ocean the day I appeared at my home. He'd never feel the same way about me as I do about him..."

"Whatever you say... princess" Lightning giggled at her new friend. It would take a while, but she would get the girl to realise it.

"Here it is!" Sora shouted back to the trailing girls behind him. He and Riku had attempted to listen in on their conversation, but got told off by Namine when she appeared beside them. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Of course!" Kairi smiled, her mind racing. She stared up at the gargantuan house in front of them. The huge walls were painted a dazzling pink, with bright white shutters and a tall chimney built with glorious red bricks, like the kind of house every 6 year old girl imagines living in some day. Kairi knocked on the large white door in front of her friends, towering higher than even Riku, with shining gold handles and knockers. After a large ruckus was heard from inside, a lock slid away and the door opened with a slow creak, revealing a small old lady with wispy grey hair, and sparse strands of dull red joining the mix. The woman had a kind face, and the type of wrinkles that could only be developed by a lifetime of smiling. A large sunflower was attached to her bright green apron, which covered her bright white sweater and dark skirt. As she spied the small, shy girl on her doorstep, the woman swayed slightly as if she were about to feint, before her smile grew ever wider and she mouthed the word "Kairi" in disbelief. Before the thought fully registered in the old lady's mind, Kairi sprang forward and embraced her grandmother tightly, tears forming in her eyes. Without a word, Kairi's grandmother ushered the mass of people outside into her home. As they filed into the warmth of the house, Sora looked around rapidly. He could smell cookies. As if reading his mind, Kairi's grandmother looked at him, nodded, and pointed out directions to a room the group presumed would be the kitchen. Glancing towards each other, everybody but Kairi and her Grandmother shuffled slowly and silently down the vibrant orange hallway, occasionally staring at the walls were a few photographs of a younger Kairi were hung.

"I've missed you so much! I've been so worried, ever since you disappeared when the Heartless came from that god-forsaken castle!" The old woman held her granddaughter close as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Its okay Grandma, I got taken to Destiny Islands! Its full of beaches and sun and the best ocean you've ever seen! And I found Sora and Riku there Grandma! You'll love them, they're the best... err... Friends you could ever imagine! There's so much I want to tell you!" Kairi blurted out into one extremely fast, almost incomprehensible sentence.

"Well well, it sounds like your life has been just great! Now, what do you say we go into the the kitchen, eat some freshly baked cookies, and you can tell me all about your adventures?" the Grandmother smiled at the young girl. Kairi nodded, before walking with arms linked down the corridor. As they strolled in, the group of friends began their introductions; Namine, Roxas, Lightning, and Riku. As Sora swallowed his mouthful of cookie ready to introduce himself, he was beaten to it.

"You must be Sora. I've heard so much about you. You've kept my little girl safe all these years, and I have no idea how to repay you for that. Thank you, Sora, Thank you."

"Its okay, Miss, Kairi's my best friend, I'd never let anything happen to her!"

"Even so, meeting you today, I don't think there would be anybody else I could trust to keep her safe. But please, call me Nami."

With this the old lady outstretched a hand to shake the young man's. As soon as their hands had touched, a bright flash of green lit the large kitchen. Nami's eyes blurred into a pure white, as she began brief mumblings, only parts of which were understandable to anybody else in the room.

"... Old Enemy … True Love … Hearts Suffering … Great Sacrifice … Immense Power … … … Darkness Overwhelming ..."

As quickly as she had gone into the trance, she snapped out of it, looking at the faces around the room worriedly.

"You children can stop here for the night, there's plenty of room." She watched as the group glanced around in a terrified fashion. Then, acting as if nothing had ever happened, proceed with the conversation. "Well, I'll make us all some nice hot cocoa, we'll go into the living room by the fire and you can fill me in on all of your wonderful adventures!"

A/N the 2nd: For those of you who review (Everybody, pleeeeeaaaase :3 ) which layout style do you prefer to read? this chapter of earlier chapter styles? Just trying to make it enjoyable for you guys! Thanks.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N**: Its been a long time. Lots of reasons. None important. I'd like to believe this is one of my better written chapters. Review or message me with any ideas you'd like to see etc. Oh and if this turns out well, I might consider a sequel, to satisfy my need to write this. So soon I may be asking for your opinions on that matter.

**Chapter 8**

Sora awoke the next morning as the sun shone through the open windows and onto his sleeping form. The warm breeze rolling in reminded him of Destiny Islands, and for a brief moment he believed that he was back home. The boys eyes flashed open, only to meet a disappointing sight. He figured he could get just a few more hours of sleep before they had to set off again. Just closing his eyes and...

It was this moment that Kairi decided to burst through the door, yelling delightedly for him to get up and get some breakfast.

"Why does she have to be such a morning person?" Riku groaned from his spot on the floor (which was lucky, as if he had not said anything Sora would have stood on him in his repeatedly failing attempts to get out of the warmth and comfort of bed).

"I don't know. But hey, food!" Sora replied in an effort to stir his tired friend.

An hour later and all of the guests were sitting around a large oak table, next to a wood-burning stove that smelled suspiciously like bacon. Lightning and Nami listened intently to the final parts of the friends' epic tale, completely drawn in and hanging on every syllable uttered about the opening of the Door to Light. As the story came to an end, Nami leaned back and breathed deeply, as if absorbing the information from the air. All was quiet for a few moments while bacon sizzled and sausages spat.

"Sora, can I talk to you? Alone?" The old lady finally spoke. The spiky-haired brunette followed her through the cosy house. When they reached the garden, Nami pulled a door open and stepped through. It was like nothing Sora had ever seen, colours so vibrant and dense and arranged perfectly, like an artistic masterpiece, painted from above the clouds. Reds, deep blues, pinks, yellows, greens, all dotted around the circular lawn, with a large stone birdbath in the centre. A few small birds chirped happily while they splashed around in the clear, cool water. Nami turned to Sora and spoke.

"Sora, I truly am grateful for everything you have done for Kairi. I have no other way to repay you other than to offer you some advice. This journey you are on... There is something you should know. I Can't go into detail, but I fear if I don't tell you then you will never succeed. You must be aware of omens that surround you. A world ripped at the seams, a great power, a terrible risk, and an incredible love." She nodded as Sora looked confused. "If all of these things become present at once, you must get out Sora. You must run, and not stop until you are safe."

"B-...W-...H-... WHY?" Sora blurted out, a quizzical looked creeping across his usually cool face. There was a brief pause while a gust of wind, whipping Nami's long grey hair around, and causing her world-wearied face to crinkle and scrunch up a little.

"Please Sora, promise me. If not for my peace of mind, then for Kairi." Sora's face flashed red. "I know. A best friend you may be, but even best friends rarely offer up their own lives so willingly to save the other, or consume such time and energy to keep them safe."

They stood in silence for a short while, observing the garden and the birds and the last remnants of brilliant orange left in the sky from the dawn. Sora was quietly contemplating the sudden severity of the omen given. How could she know what to look for, but not what would happen? Obviously her gift was an obscure thing, a puzzle inside a puzzle inside a maze.

"I know you must have questions, but I can't answer them. I'm so sorry." Sora nodded in acceptance, he knew that she wouldn't. It seemed to be a regular occurrence for him. "Come now, I'm sure your friends are beginning to wonder what we are doing, and no doubt they will want to set off soon."

As they meandered into the kitchen, everybody was deep in conversation, mostly filling Lightning in on any questions she had. None of them had expected her to grasp the whole concept as quickly as she did. As midday grew closer, Sora decided he needed to see Merlin once more. Understandable, as the group realised that since Master Yen had gotten them here, they had no discernible way to reach Disney Castle on their own.

"Sora, you are missing one crucial fact here." Merlin stated patiently. The friends had been there for over an hour, attempting to figure out a possible course of action.

"What about my Corridors of Darkness?" Namine interjected hopefully.

"That would be a possibility my dear, but they are simply too unpredictable. At any moment they may change, become mazes of possibility. And then there is the chance that, while Kairi is safe, any one of you may be corrupted, even destroyed by the immense weight of the darkness." Sora looked towards his friends discomfited. They gathered around the fire, either dosing off or reading one of the many books lying around. Then he realized.

"The... corridors? The door to light?"

"Yes my dear boy!"

"That's genius!" Riku chimed in. "If the organization could use the Corridors in the Darkness, then we can use the Corridors of Light!" A collective smile appeared on all faces but Sora's, who instead looked rather more concerned.

"But... I don't know how to." Sora slowly admitted. Merlin gave Riku a knowing smile, and the silver-haired boy sprang to his feet and over to his best friend. He leaned in and whispered into his ear. Lightning looked highly confused, and Kairi giggled at the dumbfounded look she now sported. Riku backed away and nodded, a gesture which Sora returned. With an imperceptible glance at the red-head in the corner, Sora closed his eyes and concentrated, blushing all the while. In an instant, the bright white swirl of an entrance to the Corridors materialized next to the doorway. Kairi looked up from the bright green book she had been poring over all morning in time to see Sora glancing at her, blushing furiously.

"Well that was unexpected." Lightning stated, dumbstruck by the sudden blinding light. "Where does it go?" Sora threw a look at Riku, who smirked back before turning to the girl.

"Imagine it like those cup and string phones kids make. You talk into one end, the sound travels through the string and out the other side. Same concept, we walk through the portal, walk down a little corridor and come out anywhere the person who made the portal wanted it to."

"So it could go anywhere Sora wanted?" A look of intrigue spread across her face.

"Well, I guess. But it only really works properly if I've been there before." The look turned to despair as Sora uttered these words. "But don't worry," Kairi offered. "We'll find a way to get you home."

Lightning's face lifted slightly at the optimistic girl. How could she be worried or sad when she was with such a happy bunch? She had no choice but to believe in the confidence of her new companions. Goodbyes were said to old and new friends in preparation for their departure. Just as Sora began to work up the effort to create the right portal, Nami appeared out of the blue.

"KAIRI, WAIT!" She yelled, running down the last of the stairs leading from the castle walls to the street. "Kairi, I need to talk to you for a moment! I'm sorry for the delay." Kairi looked slightly puzzled, but complied anyway. Sora watched in bewilderment.

"What's she saying, Namine?" Roxas asked sweetly. The blonde simply gazed at him, and Roxas blushed and turned away. The conversation lasted a few minutes. Sora began to wonder if Nami was relaying the same message she had previously given to him. He had only told Riku and Roxas about it, and it was still fiercely poking at the back of his brain while he hopeless ran through all imaginable possibilities as to what it could have meant. His friends couldn't come to a legitimate conclusion either, and had resorted to inventing wild and crazy theories to cheer up their spiky-haired ally. Before Sora had realised, Kairi was heading back towards them with a delirious smile plastered on.

"So, what did she say?" The group asked, almost as one.

"Nothing much. Besides, I promised I wouldn't tell!" Kairi smirked playfully at her friends and winking at Namine, who giggled. She had no doubt heard everything that was said.

"Whatever," Sora interrupted. "Lets just go." Upon finishing his sentence, Sora held a hand out and closed his eyes. The bright flash of light gave way to a large portal. They all stepped through into a long white corridor that looked like it was made of highly polished marble, lights reflecting where there were no lights. It was an odd sight, especially when so many of the group had been used to travelling through the darkness.

"Hey Namine, this reminds me of your room!" Roxas joked, earning him a playful punch from Namine as they set off towards the large smear of colour not so far ahead of them.


	10. Chapter 9

A/N: KH:3D IS ON THE WAY PEOPLE! It gets me excited that we finally get to know what happens next. Anyway, on with the story.

**Chapter 9**

Kairi lay in the huge, comfortable be she was assigned for the night, slowly leafing through the small red book Mickey had given to her before bed. They had arrived in the middle of the day, right in the middle of Disney Castle's throne room, much to the surprise and glee of both king and queen. As was expected, the men had mysteriously disappeared, leaving the girls to make introductions and lightning to get over the fact that what was essentially the universe's monarchy was... well, mice.

They had all met up for dinner in the dining hall, where the tables had been heavily laden with food for the very much welcomed visitors. The conversation flowed, firstly on what each group did in the day, and lastly with Mickey and Minnie talking about how Sora and Kairi reminded them of themselves when they were younger, much to the pairs embarrassment. When dinner was over, Mickey led the group to each of their rooms, luckily leaving Kairi's for last. Before she entered her room, she had asked the king for his help in training to be as good as Sora with her keyblade, to which he giggled, praised her, and fetched her his old notebook. The same small red notebook she was currently attempting to read, filled to the brim with his learnings.

But it was no use. She simply couldn't concentrate for long enough to read a full sentence, let alone an entire notebook. It wasn't that she was tired, far from it; she was very much wide awake. It had started out as a passing thought, but had caught an edge and clawed its way into the very front of her mind.

Pictures formed in her thoughts.

Pictures of a certain hero who was lying just across the hall.

She gazed out the window at the brightly shining stars, still thinking of that smile, until deciding that it was a perfectly acceptable thing to fall asleep thinking about, all the while unknowing that her hero was following her train of thought exactly, with the obvious exception that he was thinking of her and not himself.

**Knock Knock Knock**

Sora's eyes bolted open. If that was Kairi again, he'd be angry.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Okay, so he wouldn't be angry, but he'd definitely hold a grudge...

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

…Until he saw her smile...

"Dammit Kairi, just go back to bed for a while!" Sora yelled, pulling his covers ever further up his body.

"Dammit Sora, just get out of bed for once!" She giggled.

"You can't make me!" Sora yelled defiantly.

"Is that a bet?"

"Nope, I'd feel too bad when you inevitably lost".

Before he knew it, she had slammed open the door and pointed her keyblade at him, stopping inches away from his face. He gazed over at her, still wearing her white tank top and shorts, still dressed for bed.

"Do you really want to start this? You've barely practised, and I have been doing this for 2 years now" he mused, expecting her to put it away and give in.

"You're on, Sora" Kairi exclaimed happily, dropping into her battle stance and stepping back a few paces. Sora leapt out of his bed, brandishing his Oathkeeper, thankfully with a t-shirt on this time.

Kairi span a full 360, giving Sora time to respond to the rather powerful attack. He blocked, and pushed her away, out into the corridor. They exchanged a quick glance and a nod, as Sora whirled into action, front-flipping straight over her head and turning to-

Get hit in the calf by Kairi's crouching form.

"You've been practising without me!" Sora noted, a big smile creeping onto his face.

"I thought it'd be a nice surprise when I save you for once" she grinned back, almost turning to jelly at the sight of his smile. 'No, now is not the time' She thought to herself.

Sora got up, and made a beeline for the courtyard, running backwards to defend the barrage of constant attacks the little redhead launched at him. They continued like this for a short while, twisting and whirling in a flurry of attacks and sparks, all the while flying by corridors of rooms, grand archways and vast libraries, until they finally reached the courtyard.

They stopped in the centre, a brief respite amongst heavy but half-hearted blows. They smiled happily at each other, oddly enjoying the interaction. In a split second, they were back to the fight. It was a spectacular sight to behold, two small blurs, dashing around the courtyard, the glow of the early morning sunrise illuminating them just enough for the whole scene to look like some kind of epic final battle.

Kairi unleashed a full speed, spirited attack, only to have Sora block it, and use its force to push himself back, flying over to land on the vertical wall face, and pushing off to propel him through the air for a final attack.

'This is my chance' Kairi thought to herself. She breathed deeply. The world around her seemed to slow significantly.

She leaned back, just enough for Sora to pass over her with a hairs breadth between them.

Her opponent stopped a few meters away.

She immediately back flipped over him and feigned an attack. As he lifted his keyblade for the block, she stretched out a hand to grab it, and relinquished him of his weapon, landing on the ground facing him with keyblades in both hands.

Unfortunately, she hadn't accounted for the extra weight, and upon landing fell backwards into the cool grass.

Sora initially found this hilarious, until she twisted round and took his legs from underneath him. They glanced at each other, and quickly burst out into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, caught between the humour and the breathlessness from the tussle.

This continued for 10 whole minutes, until they regained their composure and calmed down.

Sora looked into Kairi's violet eyes, and lingered there for just a little too long.

"What's wrong Sora?" she asked, worry clearly showing in her voice. Perhaps she had injured him, or overdone it? He still wasn't quite healed from their encounter on Destiny Islands.

"Uh... No- Nothing! I was just, er... Thinking how impressed I am with how well you're doing with your keyblade!" Sora stumbled. 'Please buy it, please buy it, please buy it..' He thought repeatedly.

"Thanks! You're not too bad yourself" she winked back at him, and chuckled at the hurt look he displayed.

Collecting themselves together, they got up and began the long walk to find their rooms again. They searched for an hour, until being pointed in the right direction by a wandering broom. After quickly getting changed (and inspecting the large bruise on Sora's calf), they ran towards the sounds of conversation and laughter drifting from the dining room.

It was only when they were halfway across the room that Kairi noticed an extra face amongst her friends.

One she loathed.

One she hoped to never see again.

He was stood there, a few yards ahead.

Looking right at her.

Mouth wide open.

Perfectly still.

A/N #2: It became apparent to me as i was writing this that i abuse commas. I apologise, i'll try better next time :)


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Enjoy that cliffhanger? I hope so, otherwise my ploy to get all of you to excited for a new chapter failed. 10 points if you guessed who the unlucky person in front of Kairi was, even if it was slightly obvious.

Also, I read through all of the chapters so far, and realised how awful I am at noticing wording errors etc., so if somebody wants to proof-read future chapters and spot them all with me, let me know :)

**Chapter 10**

Kairi lunged forward, keyblade in hand, so fast the it barely had time to register in the onlookers minds. All except for one of them.

Quick as lightning, Sora had placed himself directly in front of the offender. His arms spread wide, head lowered so that his eyes were covered by his hair.

Time slowed almost to a halt.

Kairi's eyes widened in shock, horrified as she felt her powerful blow connect with Sora's ribs.

He grunted slightly, and uttered just a single sentence.

"_No... Kairi... You can't... Hurt him..._"

"SORA!" Kairi yelled. Her eyes flicking between him and her hated. Sora slouched a little, confident that she would agree to his request.

"Kairi, he isn't that guy any more. He saved my life, gave up his own to do it. I wouldn't be here without him" He stated. He looked into her eyes. They registered shock, and a little awe, but no longer the pure hatred they had shown mere seconds beforehand.

Kairi's mind whirled and knotted and clouded. Was it true? He had saved Sora, and by extension her and Riku? She made her decision. Sora was her guardian. Her protector from all things bad. If he trusted him, then so could she.

Before he even knew it, the girl who had just tried to attack him was now firmly wrapped around him waist, clinging tightly to his red waistcoat.

"Thank you... Axel" Kairi murmured gently.

The tall redhead was confused. He had never really been hugged before. It was just one of those things that never happened. He gingerly put one hand behind his head in a very Sora-like manner, resting the other across her back.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you Kairi. But, one thing;" He pulled away from her hug, and looked her in the eyes.

"Its Lea now" He grinned, pulling his signature move. "Got it memorised?"

The group giggled at him, causing him to pull a confused look, questioning them as to what they were laughing at. Getting no reply, he simply sat back at the table to continue breakfast.

"So Lea, how are you here? I saw you die back on the World That Never Was!" Sora questioned.

"You know, I'm not completely sure myself. When I was fading away, I could feel something pulling at me. When I was gone, I appeared in this weird room.

It was kinda like Castle Oblivion, big white walls, lit up by torches that weren't there. I could see something off in the distance, I couldn't make it out at first, but then I realised. It was Kingdom Hearts. Before I knew it, it dragged me closer to it. I could see it clearly now. Then it spoke. Or at least, I think it did. It said;

'_Friend and ally of the chosen; your fates have been interwoven'_

And the next thing I know, I appear here, right next to the Cornerstone of Light. With this;"

As he finished the speech, he flicked out his arm, and in his hand materialised one of his infamous chakrams. Out of the end of the handle slithered a stream of flame, brilliant red, enough to light the entire room. It snaked its way outwards for a short while, before bending 90 degrees and forming a symbol, similar to how cartoonists draw a ball of fire. The fire began to crystallise, and suddenly the whole thing flashed a bright light.

It was a keyblade.

Everybody but Mickey and Minnie stared in shock. The rest of breakfast was eaten in silence. When it was over, Lea and Roxas went to the courtyard to catch up, while the others were shepherded by Mickey to the library closest to the throne room.

"This new threat is gonna be a lot tougher than what were used to" The others nodded in agreement. "So, desperate times call for desperate measures."

Mickey threw open the doors, revealing a surprisingly high-tech looking war room of sorts. Colourful machinery covered the walls, and a large circular pedestal had been placed in the middle of the room. Bright screens flashed with maps, databases, communications set-ups, and all manner of useful pieces of information, blinking red and green lights indicating so many things that it was impossible to keep track of. The centre of the pedestal glowed brightly with a map of the Worlds.

The room echoed with a resounding "Whoa" as each of the friends stepped through the doors and took in the impressive sight.

"Well, hiya guys!" "Hey!"

Sora swung round to where the familiar voices had appeared from.

"Donald! Goofy!" Sora yelled with delight. He embraced his old companions tightly. He had missed them over the last few months. Sure, it was nice to not be yelled at by Donald, and not get into trouble for Goofy's laziness, but that was who they were; what made them, them.

"Donald and Goofy won't be joining you this time Sora" Mickey explained as the boy released his friends from the bone-crushing hug.

"What? Why not?" Sora asked disheartened.

"We're gonna help the king and Lea here, silly!" Donald explained to Sora's hurt looking face.

"Yeah, us, Chip and Dale will be in charge of all this equipment, and Mickey and Lea will be helping out any worlds in trouble! Hyuck!" Goofy strolled over to a machine and pressed a few buttons as Roxas and Lea walked in. The room darkened and the map got brighter. Sora could see small landmarks on each spherical blob, bringing back memories of each visited world.

"When the machines detects twilights on a world, this map will show us where it is. Then me and Lea can take the Gummi Ship to go help them out! You may not want to believe it Sora, but this time its bigger than you can handle alone" Mickey stated, becoming more forceful in the last sentence. He briefly looked at Sora worriedly, until a flashing red light caught his attention.

"Looks like something came up! Sora, Riku, Kairi, Namine, Roxas, you guys should go take care of it. We need you to try to figure out what is causing all these disturbances and who's behind them!" Mickey said as he walked past the group. He smiled at them all as they nodded and smiled in agreement.

"Looks like its in Halloween Town Sora!" Donald shouted from across the room.

Sora smiled. Halloween Town may have been creepy, but it was fun being dressed up like it was really Halloween. Plus it'd be fun to see what Riku and Kairi turned into, as well as Roxas and Namine. He saluted at Mickey, Donald and Goofy with a serious face, before turning around and opening up a big, square, pure white portal, and walking into it. His friends followed suit, quickly engulfed by the light as the doorway disappeared.

Mickey stood and stared at the blank space where the portal had just been, deep in thought.

"Gawrsch King Mickey, you sure left them without a lot of information there. Is everything ok?" Goofy spoke slowly, trying not to sound as though he was forcing the issue.

"I don't know Goofy. I just don't know."

He walked over to a console built into the side of the map-pedestal. Clicking a few buttons, he looked up at the map. The many worlds were replaced by just one. But something was wrong.

It wasn't complete. Parts were either missing, or simply shown as corrupted glitches.

And it was red.

Not the red of Halloween Town. A deep blood red. There was something about it that gave you the chills, and Mickey could swear that faces appeared in the sea of red, stretching through the velvet overlay.

If there was ever any doubt before, it was definitely extinguished now.

There was something very, VERY wrong.

And for the first time, the king wasn't sure it could be put right.

**A/N**: This chapter seems a little emptier than it should have been, i did go into a lot more detail where you'd expect, but i had to cut it down to keep it within my own chapter word-boundaries. I might update it sooner or later to fill it out.

**Read and review PLEEEEAAAAASE! I love it when you do, and it encourages me to write better.  
Until next time!  
3**


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: **So it seems to be taking me a looooooong time to write this, so I'm not sure if I should continue and keep at it or just call it a day. If you enjoy this FF, review and let me know I should carry on. If I get 5 I'll keep going, more than 10 and I'll definitely have to try and get chapters up more often.

**Chapter 11**

The group walked through the bright white portal and out into a creepy looking graveyard. Sora glanced round, checking for anything out of place, any sign of a twilight disturbance.

"Sora, what the hell?!" He heard from behind him.

Sora turned to see Kairi, Namine and Lightning patting themselves down, trying desperately to figure out what happened to their clothes.

Kairi's pink dress had grown downwards and formed a small puffy dress, ending just above her knees. Around her waist and ribs, the dress had become more of a corset, covered in zips. Black lace had snaked its way around her sides, extending up to cover above her dress and down her arms, ending at her wrists. Her shoes had grown up to her shins, become a deep black colour, and black and red laces had intertwined up the front. Her nails had been painted black, and her hair had been noticeably darkened. The area around her eyes had been darkened, and the rest of her face paled in comparison. Her smile showed two protruding fangs, just like Sora's. She twisted slightly, revealing small, leathery bat-like wings protruding from her shoulders.

Namine's dress had become considerably longer, and ended in a sharp zigzag rather than its usual straight hem. The sleeves had also lengthened out, and ended in the same way. A black dog collar had been placed around her neck, and a large white witches hat had found its crooked way to the top of her head.

Lightning had simply been wrapped from head to toe in bandages, just like Donald had been. Only her right eye was uncovered, and a few bones here and there poked through her wrapped exterior. Roxas and Riku just stood there, clothes torn and blackened, bones poking through, and parts of them simply missing.

"What's wrong, don't you like it?" Sora laughed, in his usual Halloween Town attire.

"NO!" They shouted in return. All except one.

"Actually... yeah, I kinda do!" Kairi exclaimed cheerfully. Sora laughed as she continued inspecting her new look.

"C'mon guys, it doesn't look like there are an twilights around here. Lets go find Jack, he'll know whats going on!" Roxas said

As they walked through the thin alleyway leading into the town square, they noticed it was eerily quiet. There was no town mayor shouting through his megaphone, there was no Jack to scare the hell out of the other citizens, there was no Sally to keep him in check, and thankfully no mad doctor to wreak accidental havoc.

Sora went from house to house, knocking on every door in the hopes of a response, but found none. The group scoured every inch of the graveyard too, but still nothing. As they gathered around the odd fountain in the courtyard, Sora had a thought.

"Hey Riku, do you believe in Santa?" Sora asked with a smirk. Roxas grinned at him, full well knowing what the answer would be.

"Sora, you know I don't. Where'd that come from?" Riku laughed at his friend.

"How about you, Kairi?"

She looked at her grinning friend. She hadn't thought about it recently, but something about Sora's smile made her want to believe anything. "Yeah, I guess I do" she replied, watching his smile grow ever wider.

"Then follow me, I think I know where everybody is!" Sora shouted as he ran through the town.

After a solid hour of trekking, getting lost twice, and Riku swearing loudly as he fell into an open grave, the group had found their way to the hinterlands, and into Christmas town.

Except it wasn't Christmas town as it had ever been before.

It looked more like a wasteland than the snowy paradise it had previously been. No longer were the trees so green and full of life; they were blackened and charred skeletons of their former selves. Snow melted, whatever had once hibernated beneath it had become mere ashes, scattered across the desolate and cracked dirt. The worlds moon became a perpetual and blisteringly hot sun, burning red amidst the cloud-strewn sky.

Sora stopped in his track immediately and stared at the scene before him. He opened his mouth to say something, but the sounds of battle halted his train of thought. He looked towards Santa's workshop, now dilapidated and crumbling, as if it hadn't been lived in for years. He could see Twilights swarming through the little village.

The others must have seen it too, as by now they had all summoned their weapons, gazing at Sora as he rested his keyblade on his shoulder. They stood in silence for a moment, clearing their minds and preparing themselves. Sora turned his head to look upon his friends. They looked back at him, knowing that this was important to him.

Sora turned back to face the small army. In a flash, he ran, leading the charge, keyblade raised, ready to strike.

Before the Twilights had known he was coming, he had obliterated 7 of the stragglers on the outskirts of town. He was quickly joined by the rest of his group. Kairi, Namine and Lightning showered the battlefield with various magics, whilst Sora, Riku and Roxas split up and powered through the mass of Twilights, heading towards the sounds of fighting closer to the factory.

The boys quickly found their way to the carousel in front of Santas workshop. Thankfully it seemed to have not yet been affected by the same corruption as the rest of the town. They stood for a moment, back to back... to back. Although a great deal of Twilights had been defeated, a good number of them still remained in a circle around them.

The girls looked on from further up the hill. They had vanquished all of the Twilights that stood in their path, and were observing the boys from their vantage point. Sora, Riku and Roxas glanced at each other, before turning to the carousel. Hooking the teeth of their keyblades onto the carousel, and firing thunder magic at it, spinning the trio so rapidly that all Kairi could make out was various coloured blurs. At once, the released their keyblades from the carousel's poles and span in the grouping Twilights, obliterating the few remaining forces. The gang grouped together next to the boys, waiting while everybody regained their composure and their breath.

As they stood however, it was Riku that noticed something odd.

"Hey guys, look up there!" He exclaimed, pointing skyward.

A large, darkened cloud had begun to form above them, and tiny flecks of snow began to gracefully drift back down to the ground.

"Lets get inside and check if Jack is there" Sora urged.

They opened the door to the large factory and flooded in, soaking in the precious warm feeling that the room gave off. Sora meander unfearingly into Santas office, walking straight into the legs of one Jack Skellington.

"Sora!" Jack cried, bending down (extremely low, Sora had forgotten how tall Jack had been) to hug his old friend. Riku followed through into the room and stopped dead at the sight of a large figure in red sat in front of the fireplace.

"Ah, Riku, I just knew we'd meet sooner or later. So, would you like to apologise for not believing in me now, or later?" Santa said with a smirk, not taking his eyes off the glowing flames in front of him. Kairi, lightning, Namine and Roxas came through last, in time to see Riku grovelling at the knees of a large red figure, and Sora in a (literally) bone-crushing hug.

Introductions were made and as the day wore on and the sun began to set, only Sora and Kairi were left awake talking with Santa and Jack. Apparently, the Twilights had suddenly appeared, bringing with them the decay that spread through the world, turning it into what it was now.

"You got rid of them? Oh Bravo Sora! I just knew you could do it!" Jack said, a facesplitting smile plastered on.

"Yeah, but we don't know what we can do for the world, we're kind of winging it at the moment, but getting rid of the Twilights seemed to be the first step." Sora explained to a curious looking Santa.

"Well, maybe we should sleep on it come back and have a proper think when you are refreshed" Santa suggested, much to the agreement of Sora and Kairi.

As Sora sloped off towards the room pointed out to him by the jolly fatman, he glanced back to see Kairi whispering something into Santas ear. It peaked his curiosity, but tiredness won over and he decided to simply let it go.

"Santa can I ask a favour?" Kairi said sheepishly.

"Of course my dear, ask away!" Santa cheerfully replied. Kairi whispered her plan into Santas ear, aware of Sora's eyes upon her.

"My my! That is most brilliant my dear girl! We will get to work on it tomorrow, never fear. Now to bed, you need your rest." Santa smiled the warmest of smiles as she departed. "Ah, young love" he sighed as he bumbled away to his own room for the night.

A/N the 2nd!: Anybody that writes fanfic, or wants to try their hand at it, I have come up with a little... Experiment on the collective. Keep watching the lists, or my author page, details will be up VERY soon indeed.


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